#711 MATCHBOX – AMX JAVELIN (Nº9b) (1977)

Around Matchbox collectors there are some which are really looking at minor differences that could be among cars. Think that Matchbox cars were sold over 5-8 year periods and several million times each, so when the cast had some wear it had to be replaced for another one, which maybe introduced some changes and improvements.

Also when a run of pieces (both metallic – base, body, practicable parts…- or plastic -interiors, windshields, wheels…-) was over and a new one had to be manufactured, it is not rare that the colours changed slightly.

Some collectors also search for differences in the boxes.

This has, in principle, no relation with the models that were re-released with “new decorations” (in a completely different colour), although (specially in the old days) a new decoration usually meant that the new casts were often mounted with the old interiors or the old windshields (that had a different colour than they should), resulting in even more variations, some of them very rare.

What I bring today are three versions of the AMX Javelin made between 1972 and 1977, but also available in other types of packs until 1982. These three are not the only variants of this car. It also came with white, blue interior… the part that covers the motor (which is also part of the interior and the steering wheel can be black or chromed), some of this variants are really rare, some can be found more commonly. The rare ones, if correctly described can reach very high prices in sites like eBay.

For variants, I recommend the page of Christian Falkensteiner, that you can find here: http://www.cfalkensteiner.com/Matchbox/Catalog/ChFCatalogIndex.htm
(Hint: Put this link in "favorites"!)

For AMX Javelin explicitly:
http://www.cfalkensteiner.com/Matchbox/Catalog/LS/LS01-39/LS09b/ChF-LS09b.htm

In the previous link at the bottom, you will find a download link for a Word file, where all known variants are listed:

My respect to the guys who perform this thorough analysis, and spend so much time making this information available to the public.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: AMX JAVELIN (Nº9b)
• Scale: Approx. 1:64
• Year: 1972 (to 1977)
• Company: Matchbox (Great Britain)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#710 HASBRO'S WWF - BAM BAM BIGELOW, UNDERTAKER #2 and YOKOZUNA (1994)

Bam Bam Bigelow (Scott Charles Bigelow): Bam Bam Bigelow is a figure which is evry appretiated among collectors. It is based on the cast made for Typhoon and Earthquake, but the decoration is quite amazing with all those tattoos in the arms and the nice colours used in his outfit, that makes it look very different from every other figure.

Undertaker #2 (Mark William Calaway): The Undertaker has always being very popular, so, as I said in the previous entry, it is interesting for Hasbro to keep it always available. In this case, and since the Undertaker has used during his whole career the same outfit (or almost) this figure is identical to #1 (series 4) except for the colour of his hair, which is darker. This figure does not have purple eye rims (unlike the mail-away version) and to “disguise” it a little bit it came with a very nice coat. This coat is quite difficult to find, since it was removed to play with the figure and many tore or went lost.

Undertaker #2 from 1994 (left) and #1 from 1992 (right)

Yokozuna (Rodney Agatupu Anoa’i): And another figure which had a new cast is this Yokozuna. The cast is completely new, although the action feature is quite boring, and has been seen in many figures in the previous waves. I like this fact, but I can’t remember having seen Yokozuna in action. At the time it was one of the wrestlers who was doing more shows, so it is understandable that Hasbro decided to release it. It would be later re-released in a #2, that you can see in entry #375.

 

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BAM BAM BIGELOW, UNDERTAKER #2 and YOKOZUNA
• Toy Line: Official WWF
• Year: 1994
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: Around 10 cm. tall

#709 HASBRO'S WWF - BRET HITMAN HART #2, MR. PERFECT #2 and LEX LUGER (1994)

The new series, which makes number 8 according to the “standard” listing is also known as the red series, because the blisterpacks had a frame in this colour. There were 6 figures released together in such blisterpacks, I will present today 3 and 3 more next time.

Bret Hitman Hart #2 (Bret Hart): After appearing for the first time in series 4, it was time to re-release this character (one of the most popular at the time) in his new outfit. Popular figures should always be available so children can always jump on collecting starting by it’s favorite wrestler. The new version does not add much to the first one, since it has very similar colours (the characteristic ones for Bret Hart) and the cast is the same, so, same action feature, same articulation points.

Mr Perfect #2 (Curt Hennig): Again, we have a re-usage of an old cast, The first version of Mr. Perfect was released in wave 3. The figure is exactly the same, except that it has blue colour instead of yellow. Curt Hennig had changed the colour of his output in between, so this update was more or less justified.

Lex Luger (Lawrence Wendell Pfohl): Lex Luger is on of the new figures made for this series, and at this time of the toyline is something the fan would appretiate. Many people who already bought Bret Hart or Mr. Perfect the first time they were available won’t buy them a second time, so it was important to keep on releasing new figures with new casts (but unfortunately no new action features). I don’t have any memories of this wrestler, because at this time, there was no tv show being aired in Spain.

 

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: BRET HITMAN HART #2, MR. PERFECT #2 and LEX LUGER
• Toy Line: Official WWF
• Year: 1994
• Company: Hasbro (U.S.A.)
• Size of the figure: Around 10 cm. tall

#708 SIKU – FORD GRANADA-TURNIER, CAMARO Z28 and MORGAN PLUS8 (1975, 1983 and 1986)

Three more Sikus for the record!

1028 FORD GRANADA-TURNIER (1975-1984)

This model was available in yellow only, but other reference numbers included decorations in red (Fire Brigade) and blue with a boat on top. This model is quite impressive and comes with practicable trunk, and is a really nice model. I don´t know of any other manufacturer that made the Ford Granada in this version.

Since it was for almost 10 years in production, there are several shades of yellow, ranging from lemon yellow to orange-ish yellow.

1051 CAMARO Z28 (1983-1995)

This is a very iconic car of the 80s, although it was not available in Spain and most parts of Europe, we knew it from the movies. The car looks really impressive from the front. Being a popular car, was manufactured by many die-cast manufacturers in this scale (for example Tomica), althugh the Siku model is slightly bigger than other 3 inches (Scale 1:55). I found it in a flea market, and despite being in good shape, the windshield has been drilled an is cracked and partly missing. Shame!

The car was available in black, white and silver, all three very elegant colours.

0836/1062 MORGAN PLUS8 (1986-1995)

The Morgan Plus 8 is a British car that looks older than it is. It was available from 1968 to almost today in different versions, but what I mean, is that already in 1968, it looked a bit like a sports car from the 50s or even the 40s. It was definitely very different from any other car at the time, and that made it very attractive for toy manufacturers. Among the ones that come to my mind  right now are the Tomica and the Majorette models, which I owned as a kid.

The model by Siku as available in three different shades of blue. In my opinion, they should have used different colours (black would have been awesome), so the three versions differ widely frm each other. These three are: violet, turquoise and light blue.

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: FORD GRANADA-TURNIER, CAMARO Z28 and MORGAN PLUS8
• Scale: Approx. 1:55
• Year: 1975, 1983 and 1986
• Company: Siku (Germany)
• Size: approx. 7 cm

#707 EIDAI GRIP - MITSUI ZOSEN HOVERCRAFT (Around 1980)

I found this toy hovercraft a few months ago in a flea market. It is not 100% complete, since the big propellers and its fans are broken.

I have found out that Mitsui is a Japanese engineering and shipbuilding company, and Zosen seems to be the Japanese word for Shipbuilding. I do not know who made this toy or if it is actually a toy... maybe it is some promotional ítem? It has a logo on the base that resembles some kind of "G". A reader from this blog gave me the hint and correctly identified the toy to be an Eidai Grip. I will update this entry with some more data soon.

Anyway, a die-cast hovercraft in 3 inches size is something rare. We already saw the two ones made by Matchbox and I am already aware of a vintage model made by Tomica, which is the one that can be found easily in Google when searching "Mitsui Zosen". The Tomica model, however seems to have a plastic base.

Despite intensive search in Google, I couldn't find any pictures of this toy, so I guess it is a very rare one. If you have information about this toy, please leave a comment here. Maybe some Japanese reader can provide some link or hint. Thanks!

FACTS AND FIGURES:

• Name: MITSUI ZOSEN HOVERCRAFT
• Scale: 1:210
• Year: Around 1980
• Company: Eidai Grip (Japan)
• Size: approx. 7 cm